Charter, 
Constitution and By-Laws 



OF THE 



iew h^\ gtate Colonization ^ocietj, 

ALSO, 

Funds held in Trust 



AND 



Financial Report May i, 189 i 



^ 






E 448 
.N538 
Copy 1 



Officees of the Society. 



President, 
Rev. S. D. ALEXANDER, D.D. 

Vice-Presidents, 
Rev. J. D. WELLS, D.D. 
W. H. SCHIEFFELIN. 

Recording Secretary, 
CHARLES R. PORTERFIELD, 19 William Street. 

Corresponding Secretary and Treasurer.' 
CHARLES T. GEYER, 19 William Street. 

Executive Committee. 

Rev. S. D. Alexander, D.D., Ex-Officio. 
Charles T. Geyer, " 

Charles R. Porterfield, " 

Edward B. Merrill, 
George A. Plimpton, 
John W. James, 
Bradford W. Hitchcock. 



Board of Managers. 



Rev. John D. Wells, D.D., 

Rev. Samuel D. Alexander, D.D., 

Rev. George W. Samson, D.D., 

Rev. Gardiner S. Plumley, D.D., 

James McKeen, 

Isaac T. Smith, 

George A. Plimpton, 

George Putnam Smith, 

Henry B. Dyer, 

Hon. Darwin R. James, 

Ambrose G. Todd, 



William H. Schieffelin, 
Ernest H. Crosby, 
John W. James, 
Charles T. Geyer, 
Charles R. Porterfield, 
Eugene F. Barnes, 
William H. Mott, 
Edward B. Merrill, 
Samuel F. Engs, 
Bradford W. hitchcock. 
Rev, Robert G. S. McNeille. 



CH ARTBR 



CHAPTER 241. 

An Act to Incorporate the New York State Colonization Society. 

Passed April 10, 1 85 5 . 

The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and 
Assembly, do enact as follows: 

§ I. Title. Anson G. Phelps, Gardiner Spring, D.D., James 
BooRMAN, W. P. Van Rensselaer, Herman Camp, Archibald McIntyre, 
S. H. Tyng, D.D., Washington Hunt, T. Frelinghuysen, J. S. Spencer, 
D.D„ G. P. DisoswAY, J, W. Beekman, D. A. Bookee, Hamilton Fish, 
Hugh Maxwell, D. S. Gregory, L. B. Ward, John B. Pinney, J. B. 
Collins, Math. Hyden, Francis Hall, William McMurray, Sam'l A. 
Foot, Hiram Ketcham^ and all persons who now are, or hereafter 
declare to be, and are constituted a body politic and corporate, 
by the name of the "New York State Colonization Society." 

§2. Business AND Object. The particular business and objects 
of the said Society are to provide the ways and means and to man- 
age, appropriate, and apply the same to colonize, with their own con- 
sent, people of color of the United States on the coast of Africa, 
and through them to civilize the African tribes, and also generally 
to improve the condition of the colored population of our country 
by appointing and sustaining agencies; diffusing information; col- 
lecting, receiving, appropriating, or investing funds for purposes of 
education in its various branches, among people of color of our 
country heretofore colonized, or hereafter to be colonized , in Africa, 
and by other means conducive to the objects of African coloni- 
zation. 

§3. General Powers. The corporation hereby created shall 
possess all the general powers, rights, and privileges, and be sub- 
ject to the restrictions contained and prescribed in the third title of 
the eighteenth chapter of the first part of the revised Statutes. 



§ 4- Constitution and By-Laws. The Constitution and 
By-Laws at the date of the passage of this act of the association 
designated and known as the "New York State Colonization 
Society, " shall be and continue in force as a Constitution and 
By-Laws for the government and direction of the corporation here- 
by created; and the officers of such association, at the date of the 
passage of this act, shall be and continue officers of the corporation 
hereby created until removed or others are duly elected in their 
places; and all the estate and property which such association may 
have heretofore received or acquired by gift, bequest, devise, or 
otherwise, and at the time of the passage of this act held by them 
for the objects specified in the second section of this act, is hereby 
vested in the corporation hereby created, and said corporation may 
hold and may convey and dispose of the same as their estate and 
property legally acquired under this act. 

§ 5. Election of Officers and Management of Property. 
The corporation hereby created shall have power to alter its Con- 
stitution and By-Laws, or at any time to make and adopt a new Con- 
stitution and new By-Laws, not inconsistent with laws of this State, 
so as fully to regulate and control the admission of members, the 
election of its officers, their number, duties, and tenure of office, 
the safe keeping and management of its property, in what manner 
and by whom its corporate powers shall be exercised, and the ad- 
ministration of all other business and affairs for the due and com- 
plete exercise of all such corporate powers. 

§ 6. Money Affairs. The management and disposal of the 
funds, property, and estate of the said corporation, and the entire 
regulation and control of its corporative business and affairs shall 
be vested in the officers hereby appointed or hereafter to be elected 
pursuant to its Constitution and By-Laws, at the times and in the 
manner therein provided. 

§ 7. Elections. In case it shall at any time happen that an 
election of officers shall not be made on the day designated there- 
for, the corporation hereliy created shall not for that cause be dis- 
solved, but it shall and may be lawful on any other day to hold an 
election for such officers in such manner as may be directed liy the 
By-Laws of such corporation. 



§ 8. Real Estate. The corporation hereby created by its 
corporate name shall, in law, be capable of taking, receiving, pur- 
chasing and holding real estate for the purposes of their corporation, 
and for nc other purpose, to an amount not exceeding the sum of 
fifty thousand dollars in value; and personal estate for like purposes 
to an amount not exceeding one hundred and fifty thousand dollars 
in value, but the clear annual income of such real and personal es- 
tate shall not exceed the sum of thirty thousand dollars. 

§ 9. Limit of Property. The corporation hereby created 
shall be capable of taking, holding, or receiving any property, 
real or personal, by virtue of any devise or bequest contained in 
any last will and testament of any person whatsoever; the clear 
annual income of such devise or bequest shall not exceed the sum 
of twenty thousand dollars. 

§ 10. The Legislature may at any time alter, modify, or repeal 
this act. 

§ II. This act will take effect immediately. 



CONSTITUTION. 

As adopted May 4, 1885, and as ainended to May 5, 1891, 



Art. I. This Society shall be called the "New York State 
Colonization Society." 

Art. 2. The object of this Society shall be to colonize, with 
their own consent, people of color of the United States, on the 
coast of Africa, and through them to civilize and Christianize the 
African tribes; and also generally to improve the condition of the 
colored population of our country. 

Art. 3. This Society shall consist of the following persons: 
J. D. Wells, Sam'l D. Alexander, Charles H. Nichols, Geo. W. 
Samson, Thomas Davenport, Henry M. Schieffelin, Isaac T. 
Smith, Morris J. Franklin, George Putnam Smith, Henry B. 
Dyer, Darwin R. James, William H. Schieffelin, Ernest H. 
Crosby, Ashbel Green, Charles T. Geyer, Charles R.Porterfield, 
Eugene F. Barnes, William H. Mott, Edward B. Merrill, Henry 
Gilsey, John H. Taylor, who are the officers and managers, and 
for some time past have been the only members of the Society, 
and also other persons to be chosen by them, so as to make the 
number twenty-two . 

Art. 4. The Officers of the Society shall be a President, two 
Vice-Presidents, a Treasurer, a Corresponding Secretary, and a 
Recording Secretary, who shall be chosen by ballot at the Annual 
Meeting regularly convened, which shall take place on the first 
Tuesday in May in each year, the polls being kept open from 
4 p. M. to 4 o'clock 30 minutes p. m. All officers shall holdover 
until their successors are elected. The ofifices of Corresponding 
Secretary and of Treasurer may be held by one and the same 
person . 

Art. 5. The officers and remaining members shall constitute 
the Board of Managers. 



Art. 6. The Board of Managers shall have power to fill all 
vacancies occurring in their body or among their officers, at any 
regularly convened meeting, and to declare the place of any mem- 
ber vacant who shall be absent from all the meetings of any year 
without satisfactory reasons. 

Art. 7. To be regularly convened, due notice of the meeting 
shall be sent to each member, and seven members shall constitute 
a quorum. Meetings shall be called by the Recording Secretary 
when requested to do so by any four members, in writing. 

Art. 8. The President shall preside at all meetings of the 
Society. The Treasurer shall keep the accounts of the Society, 
and take care of its funds and hold them subject to the direction 
of the Board of Managers . The Recording Secretary shall have 
charge of the records of the Society, and shall keep the minutes of 
meetings of the Society and Board of Managers. The Correspond- 
ing Secretary shall conduct all correspondence, and act as the 
Society's general agent, subject in the discharge of his duties to the 
direction of the Board of Managers. The Secretaries and the 
Treasurer shall hold their offices during the pleasure of the Board, 
but shall not be removed from office without the vote of at least 
ten members. In the absence of the President, the senior Vice- 
President shall preside at meetings of the Society and Board of 
Managers. If neither the President nor the Vice-President be 
present, a manager shall be appointed temporary chairman. The 
Board of Managers shall have the direction of the affairs of the 
Society, make by-laws for its government, and have the care, 
management and disbursement of its funds. 

Art. 9. This Constitution may be amended at any annual 
meeting of the Society regularly convened, or at any meeting held 
in lieu or postponement thereof, by a vote of a majority of the 
members present. The member proposing an amendment shall 
submit the same to the Corresponding Secretary, who shall furnish 
to each member of the Society a copy thereof at least one month 
previous to such meeting; or, in case of his failure to act, any 
member of the Board may furnish such copy at least two weeks 
previous to such meeting, with like effect. 



BY-LAWS. 



1 . Regular meetings of the Board of Managers shall be held 
at the Society's room or such other place in the city of New York 
as the Board may appoint, on the first Tuesday of January, May 
and October, in each year. 

2 . There shall be an Executive Committee, consisting of the 
President, Treasurer, Recording Secretary and four other 
Managers, who shall be chosen annually by the Board at its first 
meeting, to do the ordinary business of the Board, and report by 
reading their own minutes at the regular meetings of the Board; a 
majority of the Committee shall constitute a quorum . 

3 . No change shall be made in any of the investments of the 
funds of this Society, except they be to such as are authorized for 
trust funds by the laws of the State of New York, and shall have 
been approved of by seven members of the Board of Managers in 
writing. Funds (except income) which at any time may be unin- 
vested, shall be kept until invested in some Trust Company 
selected by the Board of Managers, and legally authorized as a 
depository of trust funds, subject to the joint draft of the President 
and Treasurer. All the invested property of the Society shall be 
in the name of the Society. Mortgages shall not be taken, except 
on improved property, the improvements being completed; nor the 
loans on it exceed sixty per cent, of the appraised value thereof. 

4. The presiding officer at any meeting of the Board shall 
appoint all special committees, unless it be otherwise ordered by 
the resolution creating them. 

5 . The Recording Secretary shall preserve in a book, provided 
for that purpose, an accurate copy of the Charter and Constitution 
of the Society and of these By-Laws, and also record therein ail 
amendments of said Constitution and By-Laws which may be made 
from time to time. He shall notify the Chairmen of committees 



of the names of the members of their committee and of the object 
of their appointment. He shall notify ofificers and managers of 
their election, and perform the general duties of a secretary. 

6. The Treasurer shall keep a regular account of all moneys 
by him received or disbursed, and shall make no payment on 
account of the Society, except by general or special resolution of 
the Executive Committee. His accounts shall be examined by an 
Auditing Committee within one month preceding the annual meet- 
ing. He shall render an account current at every meeting. 

7 . The order of business at the meetings of the Board shall be 
as follows: 

I St. Reading the minutes ot the last meeting. 

2d . Report of the Executive Committee. 

3d . Report of Corresponding Secretary . 

4th. Report of Treasurer. 

5th. Report of Special Committees in the order in 

which they stand. 
6th. Miscellaneous business. 

8. These By-Laws may be amended or altered at any regular 
meeting of the Board, upon proposition, in writing, stating the 
proposed amendment or alteration made by any member at the 
regular meeting preceding that at which the proposition is acted 
upon. 



Invested Funds for LiT)erian Education 

HELD BY THE 

NEW YORK STATE COLONIZATION SOCIETY. 



1ST. Fulton Professorship Fund. 
Extract fi'om the Will of Joseph Fulton. 

"I give and bequeath the sum of Twent3^-five Thousand 
Dollars unto the New York State Colonization Society, incorpo- 
rated by an act of the Legislature of the State of New York, passed 
April 7, 1855, ^'^^ ths receipt of the Treasurer of the said Society 
shall be a sufficient discharge therefor to my Executors. Let the 
above bequest be paid first from the moneys received by the sale 
of estate of mine both real and personal. 

"And it is my design and intention, and my bequest is made 
upon the express condition, that the said New York State Coloni- 
zation Society, by its proper officers, shall invest securely and hold 
in trust forever the said Twenty-five Thousand Dollars, the annual 
interest of which shall be expended — at least so much as is neces- 
sary for this purpose — for the support of a Professor to be nomi- 
nated or appointed by the officers of the New York State Coloni- 
zation Society, to hold his office and to discharge his duties in the 
College already chartered in the Republic of Liberia; said i'rofes- 
sorship to be called the 'Fulton Professorship of the Colonization 
Society' of the State of New York. Let the officers of the New 
York State Colonization Society act in harmony or with the approval 
of the Board of Trustees of said College in Liberia. 

"But I demand that the incumbent of said Professorship, before 
entering upon the duties, and as indispensable to his induction into 
his office as a Professor on this foundation, be required to subscribe 
to the Confession of Faith of the Presbyterian Church as held by 
the Old School General Assembly of the United States of America. 



'^And in case these requisitions are not complied with, the 
bequest is forfeited, and shall be refunded to my executors, and 
by them paid over in equal proportions to the following-named 
institutions, viz.: To the American Bible Society, founded in the 
city of New York in the year 1816; to the Board of Foreign 
Missions of the Presbyterian Church of the United States of 
America, and to the Trustees of the Board of Domestic Missions 
of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of the United 
States of America. In case there should be a surplus of the annual 
income of this bequest, after paying the salary of the aforesaid 
Professor, as I hope there may be, it is my will and I do hereby 
direct that said surplus be expended in purchasing Bibles for dis- 
tribution to the members in said College of Liberia, and in pre- 
miums for excellence in the various branches of science, at the 
discretion and under the direction of the Board of Trustees of said 
College of Liberia. 

" Let the Board of Officers of the New York State Colonization 
Society, under their advisement and counsel, commit the duty of 
distributing the above donations and premiums to the Board of 
Trustees of the College of Liberia." 

2d. Bloomfield Ministerial Scholarship Fund. 

Extract from the Will of John W. Bloomfield. 

"Whereas, it appears to me important that there should be a 
well-educated Ministry of the Gospel among the people of color, 
who may be fitted to become Preachers of the Gospel, Presidents 
and Professors of Colleges and Theological Seminaries in Africa, 
as the day is not far distant, I hope and trust, when such institu- 
tions may be established ui that part of Africa that now is or may 
be occupied by emigrants, people of color, from the United States 
of America, I therefore devote a part of my estate to this purpose; 
and I advise and it is my desire that those to whom it is entrusted 
to carry into effect this, my object, shall i)e careful in selectmg 
young men of color of piety and talents, who may be taken under 
their patronage for the above purpose, under an implied, though 
not a positive engagement, that, when prepared, they are to go to 
Liberia, or to some of the settlements in Africa formed of people 



12 

of color, emigrants from the United States, to preach the Gospel 
to their brethren who may have gone before them and to their 
native brethren of Africa, and to raise up seminaries of learning 
there. Should there be proper schools established to meet my 
foregoing intention in any part of Africa, to which an American 
people have emigrated or may emigrate before any part of the 
fimds I hereby intend to devote to this object can be paid over, I 
shall leave it to the judgment of the Society to which I bequeath 
the same to educate these young men either in the United States 
or in Africa, as to them may seem best. I also recommend that 
the schools in which they may be educated and to which the funds 
may be paid be Manual Labor Schools, and for two reasons: 

'■^ first. It will save expense, and this bequest will educate the 
greater number. ■ 

^'■Second. 1 recommend that each scholar learn a trade, which 
will be of essential benefit in Africa, especially among the native 
inhabitants. 

"Therefore, I give and bequeath to the Treasurer of the New 
York State Colonization Society and to his successors in office, the 
residue of my estate not herein otherwise disposed of, to be paid 
over to the said Treasurer as soon as it can be collected, after the 
bequests and legacies herein named are paid, in trust, to be by 
said Society expended in fulfilling my object so far forth as the 
general purposes for which said Society was formed will admit, as 
fast and as soon as by the said Society received and as circum- 
stances will admit, the receipt of the Treasurer to be a sufficient 
voucher to my executors." 

3D. Beveridge Scientific and General Scholarship Fund. 

Extract fro7n the Will of John Beveridge. 

^'■Seventh. Should there be any residue of my estate after 
paying the before-mentioned legacies, I will and direct that it be 
appropriated in manner following, to wit: One-third part to be 
paid to the New York State Colonization Society in trust for pur- 
poses of Education in Liberia; the same to be safely invested, and 
remain as a permanent fund under their charge to aid in the found- 



13 

ing and endowment of Scholarships in connection with some Col- 
lege in Liberia, as may seem to them best calculated to secure to 
that Republic the benefits of Christian and Scientific Education." 



The one-third residuum received under the above bequest 
amounted in all to $6,866.90, which by vote of the Board of 
Managers, September 15, 1884, was fixed at $7,000. At the same 
date, by vote of the Board, the following Scholarships were con- 
solidated into one fund, the income of which might go to students 
not candidates for the Christian ministry, viz. : 

The Beveridge Scientific Scholarship Fund $7,000 

The James N. Cobb Scholarship 2,000 

The Sprague " i>5oo 

The Van Ness ** 500 

Amounting in all to $11,000 



Treasurer's Annual Report 



FOR 



The Year Ending May i, 1891, 



Cash Transactions during the Year. 

Balance on hand April 30, 1890, $7,835.80 

RECEIPTS. 

Interest on loans $2,773.67 

" from Trust Co 122.30 

Rents from No. 85 East 108th St 598 . 52 



" "■ 24 Clinton Place 


1,736.35 




" " 582 Bergen St 


52.00 




"584 " 


49.25 




''586 " 


33.25 




"588 " 


22-. 30 




est for Eiberia College Account, 


325.00 


5,712.64 






$13,548.44 



PA YMENTS. 

For No. 85 E. 108th St., taxes, etc., 169.37 
" "24 Clinton Place, taxes, 

repairs, etc 1,265.34 

" 582 Bergen St., taxes, etc.. 266.49 

" 584 " " " " .. 375.44 

Beneficiaries 460 . 00 

Expense Account 703 . 32 

Liberia College Account 672 . 00 

Loan on Bond and Mortgage .. . 6,000.00 9,911.96 

Balance on hand April 30th, 1891 $3,636.48 

INCOME ACCOUNT. 
Cash received from interest on loans. $2, 773. 67 

'< " " Trust Co. 122.30 
Interest received from No. 24 Clinton 

Place 339.00 

Net rent No. 85 E. 108ch St 429 . 15 $3,664 . 12 

PA YMENTS. 

To Beneficiaries 460.00 

Expenses 703.32 1,163.32 

Surplus $2,500.80 

Divided as follows: 

Fulton Fund Income Account receives 1 , 1 48 . 59 

Bloomfield " ** " 857.23 

Beveridge " " " 447.94 

Liberia College Annex Account " 47.04 $2,500.80 



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